Marv Cermak: Gridiron pro prospect glad he chose career in music

Published 8:24 pm, Monday, June 9, 2014

Ron Serapilio was one of the most potent running backs I saw in the Capital Region during my two-decade run as a sportswriter.

When we bumped into each other unexpectedly the other night, we reminisced about his football days at the old Draper High back in the 1950s.

Besides a sterling career at the Rotterdam school, Serapilio was scholarshipped by Ithaca College. Fifty some years later, I couldn't recall exactly how well he did at Ithaca. He said he did "OK" and dismissed the topic.

Later, I pulled a very old file on Serapilio and discovered serious modesty. His Ithaca gridiron exploits were so outstanding he was invited to five pro football training camps. He had the attention of the NFL's Chicago Bears and former St. Louis Cardinals; AFL's LA Chargers and the CFL's Montreal and Winnipeg franchises.

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"I loved football, but my heart was with music – I was a musician,'' said Serapilio, who majored in music at Ithaca. He turned down the pro football invites. Instead, he went to Ohio University where he earned a master's in fine arts.

Three years after 1962 graduation, he joined the faculty at Shenendehowa Central, a district just starting an enrollment explosion. He retired in 2002 after 37 years teaching all-level instrumental music.

What was to become a perennial Shenendehowa football powerhouse was in its infancy in the early '60s. The school needed a JV coach, so Serapilio reluctantly agreed to fill the gap.

"Sometimes I look back on an unproductive one year of coaching coupled with broken ribs and knee injuries suffered in college football,'' Serapilio said. "Choosing a music career was the right decision.''

Campaign ad bombardment has begun

Well, I don't know about you, but I'm already sick and tired of the boilerplate political advertisements on television.

The repetitious nonsense started last month. Now it's June, five months before the general election, and the politicians are bombarding us with perennial promises and assorted rhetoric.

Gov. Andy Cuomo, a Democrat; and Elise Stefanik, the Republican congressional candidate in the 21st District, have been the early leaders in spreading political hogwash over the airwaves.

I was never a TV watcher until three years ago when I suffered a permanent spinal injury. My limited mobility nudged me into the wonderful world of boob tube viewing.

Anyway, these same old political ads are so annoying I'd rather opt out for Billy Fuccillo commercials. At least his sales pitches are a tad diversified and creative.

As an almost daily campus walker at Union for years, I often used its library and spoke regularly with staffers. Because of this regimen, I thought I knew all the college's most famous graduates.

But the other day, a Union alum, requesting to remain nameless, told me that a grandfather of Winston Churchill's graduated from the Schenectady college. My subsequent research verified the tip info about Leonard Jerome, the maternal granddad of Sir Winston.

Jerome, born on a farm near Syracuse, graduated from Union in the mid-1800s, but I was unable to immediately pin down the date.

According to Wikipedia, Jerome became a lawyer in Rochester. He moved to New York City where he was a stock speculator and promoter known as the King of Wall Street. He died in 1891 at age 73.

Of course, as most everyone knows, Winston Churchill was United Kingdom prime minister during the critical 1940-45 era. During World War II, he led Britain until victory over Nazi Germany had been secured.

The guy giving me the Union-Churchill connection thought the information timely in view of the D-Day 70th anniversary. I was just 12 back then but I vividly recall reading and hearing about the Normandy battle that would lead to the liberation of Europe.

The death of Frank Pidgeon last week brought back memories of the 1962 Linton-Mont Pleasant football game. Many believed that clash was the most thrilling in the long rivalry between the former city high schools.

In the fleeting seconds of the heart thumper, Pidgeon threw a touchdown pass tying the game at 13-13. As an encore, Pidgeon kicked the extra point that locked up victory for Mont Pleasant.

I was covering the game and recall the now illustrious Pat Riley, Linton's key defensive back, was unable to break up the successful pass pattern.

Many years later, New York Post columnist Fred Kerber did an item about Riley when he was coaching the Knicks. Riley told Kerber the two worst lifetime losses he suffered had nothing to do with his NBA career.

One was the 1968 NCAA basketball finals when his Kentucky team lost to Texas Western. The other was the 1962 football loss to Mont Pleasant.

Riley, a high school quarterback, was drafted by the NFL Dallas Cowboys as a defensive cornerback. At the time the Cowboys had three great quarterbacks — Don Meredith, Roger Staubach and Craig Morton.

He switched his focus to the NBA becoming the biggest-name professional sports figure (player/coach/owner) in Capital Region history.